DanO got me thinking .... what beter way to actually audition this beast than to record it and listen to it at a later time. So - I did, and WOAH MAMMA! This thing sounds so real .... much better than I remember the X1 sounding. (Although that was pretty good at the time)

It seems the folks at Ketron have been busy improveing exosting features rather than REinventing the board. It really shows in how expressive some sounds are. Lots of the staples have better vibrato and sustain qualities, and the drums are just scary.
They finally put in a way to lock out the bass from changing between patterns, so if I can just get used to the navigation and the few missing features that I've come to love .... I may take it out soon. I NEED that F/S Dan - you can't use the vocalist without it. (MAJOR KEYTRON BOO BOO ! )

AJ - You gotta make it so you can use a comercial F/S for an assignable task - forget about the volume pedal .... the on/off features are far more important .... especially to singers. Any chance ?

I have too busy of a weekend ahead so the XD will sit home one more week, but if I get that F/S .... I plan to try it on the job next week. The bass lockout was the last really big hurdle. As long as the vocalist performs ok .... I think It may go on-line with me very soon.

I'll Give DonnyNJ the audio demos - maybe he can post them somewhere. I never learned how to do that, and I don't think I want them on my site ... they're just fooling around with lots of mistakes too. (I'm a clumsy lead player when I don't concentrate.)

Yes ! do it ! dano

OK - it's crunch time boys & girls.

I got courageous after hearing the recordings I did on the XD9, so I took it to work tonight. Since the harmonizer is UNUSABLE without the Ketron dedicated footswitch, (There is no way to turn it on and off without taking your hands off the keys - no good, no good) I decided to try to use the stereo in's and take the signal from my regular mixer and Digitech. Worked like a charm. There is a nice clean signal at the mic input and I had plenty of gain. I turned OFF all effects, panned the signal hard Left and hard Right and went from there.

Well ... lemme tell ya - this thing clearly sounds the best of anything I've ever heard. The drums and bass are so good, it's scary. The chordal acc. parts are tasteful and modest compared to the old X1 days, and the fill ins are logical and musical as well.
The fill in/variation buttons are still awkward to handle, but the sound is so good, I may have to learn to adjust to it.
It's really quite an improvement, as far as the basic rhythm section goes. The solo voices seem to all be tweaked and improved, and the sax's make my mouth water. I am going to have to start playing more instrumentals because this unit is so convincing. My soloing is not so great, (I'm a chord & bass man) but I'm willing to learn. The tone of the instruments is just wonderful.
There are still some annoying little things that need to be addressed, but if you go by sound alone .... this is the best keyboard I EVER heard. (all around)

It still needs:

More polyphony (noticable lag at times)
A few more dedicated buttons (pianist mode / manual bass)
stereo inputs AS WELL as the mic inputs (Yamaha's LOOP method is great)
Extra outs (for bass and drums, or ...... )
master EQ
XLR mic input (would be nice)

There is also no way (that I can see) to control the volume of a song if you use an external sequencer, like I do. When I use the laptop to trigger the internal sounds ... the song volume does not work. This may be possible, but I haven't found it yet.
AJ? DanO? George?

I'm going to convert a few of the audio samples I made on the XD to MP3 and send them to a few of you. Maybe someone can post them somewhere. (I'm a cyber-novice at that stuff)

Forgive my bad chords and poor melody lines .... I am not very good at instrumentals. I sing everything usually, and I just don't seem to concentrate unless I have an audience. Even so - the sound is awesome. I'm sure you'll be impressed with the rhythm sound at least. I just ran the outputs of the keyboard direct into my CD recorder with no extra processing. It's clean and quiet with lots of "sizzzzzzle"

There are still sounds that I prefer on the PA80 (organs mostly) but overall - the XD has everything I need, and then some. I love the solo sounds, the EP's and the drums. Did I say how real the drums sound? It's incredible.

If the 9000PRO had these sounds with all it's other features ... it would be the best of both worlds. Yamaha still OWNS the market for ease of use and logical layout, but this new Ketron is going to turn some heads, for sure. If sounds are important to you ... you GOTTA check this out.

Send me the demos. Now.
Please.
Pretty please?
Don

Did you get 'em? I sent 'em !

Now I got 'em. Truly amazing! Sounds like an orchestra. Did you use the automatic bass lines, or did you play the bass yourself?
DonM

Automatic for demo purposes. I wanted you all to hear the machine ... not me !

Incidentally, your right hand is VERY good. You indicated that it was sloppy but, if so, I would hate to hear you at your best.
Don

You're so sweet.

I'm sorry boys to interrupt your private little conversation there
But is there any chance I could listen in on the demo? Maybe even just a little?

Thanks

Eric